Are generous welfare benefits keeping Americans from working for a living? The argument that welfare displaces work isn’t new, of course. It was a favorite of President Ronald Reagan. Cato itself did a major study in 1995 making essentially the same point. “Welfare benefits continue to outpace the income that most recipients can expect to earn from an entry-level job, and the balance between welfare and work may actually have grown worse in recent years,” they write. The authors compare a nonworking family that gets a full suite of benefits to a working family that gets no benefits and conclude, not surprisingly, that the nonworking family would be better off.
Obviously, welfare is keeping people from working. Why would someone want to work at an entry-level job when they could simply register for welfare and collect more money from the government than they would actually working? Cuts have to be made on these programs because it's not right for a working person to make less money than a welfare recipient. Like I said before, welfare programs were created to help people, not to live off of them. Clearly, this is an incentive to not work for a living.
People respond to incentives. Who can blame these people for wanting to live off of welfare? I don't blame them. If you can do nothing and make more money than someone that is actually productive, why would you work? It's a sad reality. I 100% agree that cuts are necessary or at least some reform to make it less accessible. I blame the generous government handouts along with the people that don't seem to feel guilt about living off of other people. Yes, I know the percentage of people actually living off of welfare with no job is small, but it still makes up a decent amount of money spent.
ReplyDeleteLiving in the "land of opportunity" also gives people a chance to live in the "land of taking advantage of benefits to not have to work." I firmly believe that the welfare system needs to be overhauled. Not completely, but in a way that removes those that abuse the system and takes care of those who genuinely need it better. If something is not done soon, this will only continue to escalate until nothing can be done. Be proactive, not reactive. Do something before it becomes a bigger issue, not when it is way too out of hand to handle.
ReplyDeletePeople who are out of work are realizing that living on welfare is an easy way of living because you don't have to work and you get enough money to get by. They are feeling like they don't every have to work again. News flash, if you get a job, you can make more money and have luxuries that you cant have on welfare money. Stop living off the government.
ReplyDeleteI know that for some people that welfare is a necessity but with that being said someone who is working should earn more then someone on welfare. However considering minimum wage isn't very high and people struggle to live off that, that's probably why welfare is higher then minimum wage .
ReplyDeleteAre these checks going to individuals, or are they going to entire families in need? I'll admit that I don't know how welfare works in this respect, but if this check is meant to support a family, it makes complete and perfect sense that it is more than an entry-level salary. It isn't possible to support a family on a minimum wage salary, nor should it be expected of these people to do so. Also, may I add that the word "cushy" is astonishingly horrible? I hate it with a passion.
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